Children become animals or TV characters

Many witches, skeletons and zombies were among the 850 children filling the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center Thursday evening at the Hannibal Police Department's 33rd annual Halloween party.

Bev Darrbev.darr@courierpost.com

Many witches, skeletons and zombies were among the 850 children filling the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center Thursday evening at the Hannibal Police Department's 33rd annual Halloween party. The children - with the help of their creative parents - also represented their favorite TV personalities.Kegan Johnson wore a long beard as the star of Duck Dynasty and was carrying a boat. She won first place in the ages 7 to 9 division.Korbin Howe, who won first place in ages 4 to 6, represented the rock band KISS.Gavin Hendricks was Thomas the Train and won first place in the youngest division.Some girls were princesses, such as Semiaj Elzea, who was with twins Myla and Katy Schmeltze. Kira Parker was in a colorful hot air balloon. Kendra Spegal was a Zombie Barbie (in a box), which won her a second place prize.Some children were hidden in animal outfits. Shiloh Allen was a fox.Andrew Clark took second place in his division as a spinosaurus, thanks to the work of his mother. She found a pattern on the internet, and explained his headpiece was based on a bike helmet.Marina Meyer was a hedgehog with large quills. This idea was from her cousin, Camilla Foster, who accompanied her to the party.Dravyn Finlaw was a dragon boy, and Maggie Parker was a smiling bee.The party was for children age 12 and under, and perhaps the youngest was 7-week-old Charley Cousin, dressed as a policeman.Costume contest winners were:• Ages 0 to 3 - Gavin Hendricks, first; and Kenyx Greving• Ages 4 to 6 - Korbin Howe, first; and Andrew Clark• Ages 7 to 9 - Kegan Johnson, first; and Kira Parker• Ages 10 to 12 - Jas Utterback, first; and Kendra Spegal• Adults - Luke Boyd, first; and Miranda TutorMany volunteers helped, including Key Club and National Honor Society members from Hannibal High School. The students also wore Halloween costumes, including Rachel Davis as a butterfly. And Bradley Campbell was enjoying acting as Jay Gatsby, wearing a 1960s' white suit.Another volunteer was Claire Ewersmann of the Hannibal Free Public Library, who was reading a book to the children.The oldest group of children enjoyed their Haunted House, and the youngsters had fun going through their hay bale maze.Cindy Hummer, who was recording a count of the children entering the party, reported a total of 850 attended. This was considerably more than last year, with 790.Cpl. Jonathan Borgmeyer of the HPD, who served as emcee when not coordinating all the events taking place, later said the increased number may have resulted from all the good publicity the party had received from the media.See Seen on Scene photo gallery for more pictures.